'Gopal may have met Veerappan by now'

Journalist-emissary R R Gopal, who entered the jungles late on Wednesday night, is believed to have met outlaw Veerappan on Thursday and begun negotiations with him to secure the release of Kannada film star Dr Rajakumar and three others.

The emissary had on Wednesday received the green signal from the bandit and had informed his office in Madras that he was proceeding into the forest.

Nakkeeran associate editor A Kamaraj said the assumption was that Gopal would have met Veerappan going by the time he normally took to reach the fugitive. He, however, could not confirm this as there has been no news from Gopal so far.

Despite apparent legal complications arising out of court proceedings against the release of prisoners as demanded by Veerappan, Gopal had expressed confidence that he could successfully negotiate the hostages' release.